Popular music flourished in Singapore during the 1960s, when a number of local bands became extremely popular with their ...

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Located on Guillemard Road, the former Singapore Badminton Hall was built to host the 1952 Thomas Cup, first held in England in 1949 and won by the Malayan team. Although the games did not eventually take place in the building, subsequent Thomas Cup matches in 1955 and 1958 were held there. Over the years, the hall was also used as a venue for other sporting matches, entertainment activities and key political events.

BackgroundIn the early years, competitive badminton games were played in the Singapore Volunteer Corps Drill Hall on Beach Road. However, tournaments often had to be delayed due to the venue being booked for other events.1 After Aw Boon Haw, patron of the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), constructed a hall for the Clerical Union on Rangoon Road, matches were played at the badminton court in the hall.2 However, the hall proved to be inadequate for tournaments due to the inadequate lighting for competitive matches and heat emanating from the zinc roof.3

In the 1930s, there were calls for a purpose-built badminton hall with several letters and articles appearing in the newspapers.4 A site near the Post Office Club on Serangoon Road was selected. The project, however, was abandoned, possibly due to the death in 1939 of then SBA president, Chua Keh Hai.5

In February 1949, the Malayan badminton team won the inaugural Thomas Cup tournament in England.6 This meant that Malaya would have to host the next Thomas Cup in 1952.7 Lim Chuan Geok, then president of SBA, called for the construction of a badminton hall to host international badminton tournaments.8 In May 1949, a committee chaired by prominent local laywer John Laycock was formed to raise funds for building the hall.9

In 1950, the government announced plans to build a stadium on Anson Road that would house a badminton hall.10 This led to the belief by the public that a separate badminton hall would no longer be required, thereby resulting in dwindling donations for the new hall.11 When the project came to a standstill in February 1951, SBA’s hall committee resumed the fundraising campaign.12

Construction and key developmentsIn August 1951, the colonial secretary approved a site along Guillemard Road for the badminton hall.13 Ng Keng Siang was the building’s architect, while the contractor was C. H. Tong’s Union Construction Company.14 The hall was officially opened on 7 June 1952 by then GovernorJohn F. Nicoll.15 At the time of its opening, the building had two canteens, four badminton courts and a seating capacity of 7,126.16

Although the badminton hall was completed in time for the second Thomas Cup tournament in 1952, the decision had already been made in March 1952 to hold it at the Happy World Stadium,17 where Malaya successfully retained the cup.18

In 1955, the Malayan team took the Thomas Cup for the third consecutive time.19 In 1958, however, Malaya lost the tournament to Indonesia.20

By the 1980s, the hall was overused and there was a need for more modern training facilities.21 Consequently, the SBA built and opened a S$5.5-million club house next to the hall, facing Lorong 22 Geylang, in 1986.22 The club house was fully paid for by donations.23

Financial problemsThe construction costs of the Singapore Badminton Hall were estimated at $300,000 in February 1951, but had tripled to nearly $800,000 by the time the building was completed in June 1952. The final costs were calculated to be about $850,000.24 Disagreements over proposed ancillary facilities that had increased the construction costs, as well as concerns over raising sufficient funds to pay for them, led to Laycock’s resignation as SBA’s hall committee chairman in September 1951.25 A new committee under Tan Lark Sye was formed in May 1952.26 The hall’s completion was made possible with a $250,000 loan from Aw, and the building’s general contractor, C. H. Tong, agreeing to continue work without payment.27

The financial problems continued long after the hall opened. In 1954, G. E. Morris & Co. had the hall’s electrical fittings seized and auctioned off to cover the outstanding $9,460.98 that the hall had owed the company.28 Fortunately, Aw and the General Electric Co. purchased the fittings and “lent” them back to the hall.29 In the same year, Lim Chuan Geok retired as SBA’s president but continued to run the hall until 1958 when the government took over the operations.30 For the next two decades, SBA continued to clear the debts, which were transferred to the Singapore Sports Council in 1978, together with ownership of the hall.31

Historic siteBesides badminton training sessions and matches, the Singapore Badminton Hall was also the venue for other sports tournaments such as sepak takraw, table tennis and taekwon-do.32

In the 1950s to ’60s, the hall witnessed significant events in Singapore’s history. It served as the site for key political events, such as the election victory rally by the People’s Action Party in June 1959. It was also the vote counting station for the merger referendum in September 1962.33

Entertainment events such as plays, movie screenings as well as music and dance competitions were also held regularly in the hall.34 Striptease dancer Rose Chan performed at the hall between 1956 and 1957,35 while Radio Singapore staged its Puspawarna Singapura variety shows there in 1959 and 1960.36 The concert by British pop group The Rolling Stones in 1965 was preceded by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, whose 1961 performance was a strong influence on local popular music in the 1960s.37 In addition, the hall was a coveted performance venue among local bands such as The Quests and The Trailers.38

On 1 September 1999, the hall became the first sports facility to be marked as a historic site by the National Heritage Board.39

In July 2007, SBA was informed that the hall’s lease would end in January 2008, following which the annual rental would be increased from under S$100,000 to S$1.164 million.40 As a result, the hall was closed down and SBA moved to the Singapore Sports School in Woodlands.41 In May 2009, the hall was reopened by Turf City Management – after a S$2-million refurbishment – as Guillemard Village, an entertainment-cum-food and beverage centre.42

The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.